News Release

BOSTON – (May 13, 2014) – Joslin Diabetes Center announced today that Lori Laffel, M.D., M.P.H., Chief of the Pediatric, Adolescent and Young Adult Section at Joslin and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and Howard Wolpert, M.D., Director of the Joslin Institute for Technology Translation (JITT) and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, will be honored as Research Champions at the JDRF’s upcoming Boston Gala. They will receive the Nancy Jones Diabetes Champion Award for Research at the 32nd Annual Boston Gala on May 17, 2014 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place.

The Gala recognizes individuals who advocate for and have made contributions towards finding a cure for type 1 diabetes. Dr. Laffel and Dr. Wolpert are being honored for their many years of work in diabetes research at Joslin.

“I am honored to receive this award and am grateful to the JDRF for their tireless efforts to fund research aimed at advancing approaches to finding a biologic or technologic cure for diabetes, preventing acute and chronic diabetes complications, and improving care for persons with type 1 diabetes of all ages,” said Dr. Laffel.

In addition to her role as Chief of Pediatrics at Joslin, Dr. Laffel is actively involved with the American Diabetes Association and is chair of both the Youth Strategies Committee and the Working Group on Transitions in Care for Type 1 Diabetes.

“It’s a great honor to be acknowledged by JDRF for the translational work of my group using technology to improve the lives of adults with type 1 diabetes. These emerging technologies have the potential to transform diabetes care as we know it,” said Dr. Wolpert.

Dr. Wolpert, in addition to serving as the Director of the JITT, is an Investigator in the Section on Clinical, Behavioral and Outcomes Research and Director of the Insulin Pump Program at Joslin. His research includes ways to best adopt technology for type 1 diabetes management.